To form a braking zone on the guide track arrangement, one of the parts, i.e., either the magnet arrangement or the induction body, is provided on the guide track arrangement while the other part is connected to the personal transportation device, and the magnet arrangement has at least two partial magnet arrangements, each having at least one permanent magnet, said partial magnet arrangements being arranged at a distance from one another and essentially perpendicular to the direction of the braking zone guide track in at least one of their operating positions, with the induction body being arranged between the partial magnet arrangements during braking.
Such a popular amusement device is disclosed in European Patent 0 820 333 B1. Use of permanent magnets in the magnet arrangement is desirable for safety reasons because in contrast with electromagnets, the magnetic field emanating from permanent magnets does not depend on a power supply and thus the eddy-current braking device continues to supply the desired braking force even in the event of a power failure. However, the variability, i.e., controllability, of the braking force of an eddy-current brake with permanent magnets is still a problem.
In the publication cited above, it is proposed that the entire magnet arrangement and the induction body be moved away from and toward one another in order to diminish or interrupt the braking force acting between the magnet arrangement and the induction body in the case of an eddy-current brake on a popular amusement device. To do so, the entire magnet arrangement and/or the induction body is situated movably on the device supporting it and is provided with an actuator drive.
One disadvantage of this method of varying a braking force of an eddy-current braking device is that the braking force acting between the magnet arrangement and the induction body can be adjusted only approximately and it can be used practically only between a predetermined braking position with a relatively high braking force and a zero braking force position with and without a negligible braking force.
Furthermore, when the magnet arrangement is moved away from the induction body to reduce the coverage between these two parts, relatively large masses are moved, which results in relatively long switching times, and shortening these times in turn requires efficient and expensive actuator drives.